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Sea and Stone: A Croatian Island Garden, Slide Show

Our side show of the interiors, exteriors, and plants of a beautiful summer home on a Croatian island owned by interior designer Lucien Rees Roberts and architect Steven Harris, and with a garden deisgned by landscape architect David Kelly.

Proving you can’t keep a good climate down, barely a decade after the war ended in Croatia (in 1995), the New York Times dubbed the coastline-rich country the “New Riviera.” With its glistening sunshine, mild temperatures, and dramatic backdrops of intensely blue seas and steep mountains, travel-wise publications such as National Geographic hailed it as the place to visit. But if you choose to put down roots, literally, as Lucien Rees Roberts and Steven Harris have, you’ll need to plan around the dry heat of coastal Croatia’s hardiness zone 9 summers. This means being water-wise with plant selections and employing patience: Gardens are typically slow to establish in Mediterranean climates.

Left: The outdoor dining area, where the couple spends much of their time, is surrounded by a similarly subdued palette made up of rosemary, lavender, and santolina.